The Metro may be fast and ozone-friendly, writes Mai Samih, but how comfortable is it? Students like me love the Metro. It implies not only a clean environment and a seat, but arrival on time. At least it used to. On the weekend these days, with people lining up in groups of four rather than single file, getting a ticket is in itself a 10-minute ordeal. The ladies-only carriage atmosphere does not remain cosy for long: at the Marg Station, scores of little creatures in uniform overtake said carriage, turning it upside down. Crowding makes for claustrophobia: forget fresh air, let's just -- get out. Maybe I don't love the Metro so much, after all? I am not the only one to whom the question occurred, however. According to Afaf Samuel, a lawyer, "it's admittedly the fastest option, but I'm an old lady and my knees get sore; the Giza station has four flights of stairs to get through. If there was an answer to the stairs problem, I wouldn't use any other form of transport." She also asks for ventilation and a greater number of women-only carriages, expressing reservations about boarding protocol and overall organisation besides. Sarah Abdallah, a housewife, voices similar feelings regarding the number of people and lack of air: "A lot of accidents happen. I am pregnant, and the other day I was on the verge of suffocating because of lack of fresh air on the Metro. The only places where you have access to fresh air are the Cairo University and Giza stations." Her mother, Widad Zakaria, says the price of tickets is rising, too. Indeed, as Samuel points out, a family of four will end up paying over LE300 every month, which is "still too expensive for many families". Ahlam Abdel-Fattah says men are allowed to use one of only two women-only carriages from 5 to 9pm, which makes it more difficult for women who could be subject to harassment -- a danger also present in many inadequately lit stations -- pointing out that (male) vendors should not be allowed in and out of women-only carriages at will. One metro station manager pointed out that compared to other public transportation the metro is the most comfortable. And it's not true that ventilation is a problem. "There are as many fans as there can be on any given carriage." The problem in his view stems from the fact that there are those students who will linger on the platform all day long, until the police forces them out, while children vandalise the escalators, misusing the controls. However, he added, those problems are well under control "The police maintain order, fining men found on women-only carriages; devices are installed that instantly point to faults in escalators or carriage doors, which are promptly fixed." Another Metro official stressed that the vendors are the responsibility of the police, who often indeed arrest them: "The chairman of the Egyptian Metro Company, engineer Magdi El-Azab, plans on bringing a special security company to monitor the ticket machines, and the minister of transportation has already decreed that enough extra fans will have been installed to solve ventilation problems by the start of summer."
